Good morning, this is Kasmira. In our first newsletter of the year, we start with two articles that we published at the end of December but that have significance for the months ahead.

As the UN prepares to review Bolivia’s human rights record this month, we spoke to one of the country’s most prominent Indigenous rights defenders, Ruth Alipaz, about the impact the gold mining industry is having on their way of life, their health and identity.

And as global powers seek to have a hand in shaping Syria’s future – with the US and European foreign ministers set to meet on Thursday in Rome to discuss the situation in the country –, we explore what role exists for the United Nations.

Kasmira Jefford

08.01.2025

On our radar

Photo article

A heavily damaged mosque surrounded by buildings that were completely destroyed during the civil war in the Al-Asali neighbourhood in Damascus, on 6 January 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

How UN-led talks can help Syria avoid geopolitical pitfalls. As global powers descend on Damascus to have a hand in shaping Syria’s future, the United Nations – and its European headquarters – has a chance to avoid the transition being hijacked by foreign political agendas.

Geneva Solutions

Here's what else is happening

🔮What to look out for in 2025 for global health in Geneva. Here are a few key expected developments – some immediate and others longer term – that could have an impact on global health policy-making in Geneva.
Geneva Health Files🔒 (EN)
🌲Geneva and climate change: start local and change the world. A local Geneva initiative called 2050 Today encourages the city’s UN agencies, diplomatic missions and private enterprises to tackle climate change. In this episode of Inside Geneva, agency leaders share insights on how they are trying to do this.
Swissinfo (EN)
🐓Bird flu risk remains low after first US death, WHO says. A spokesperson for the World Health Organization told reporters in Geneva that the risk to the general population from H5N1 bird flu still remains low after a US patient who was hospitalised in December died earlier this week.
Reuters (EN)
📦 Could Red Cross Museum move to Abu Dhabi? Faced with cuts, anything’s possible. The idea that Geneva’s Red Cross Museum, rooted in the city’s DNA as the home of humanitarian principles, would move abroad is “totally absurd”, says its director Pascal Hufschmid. But planned cuts to federal funding mean that nothing is off the table, with Abu Dhabi being touted as one possible location.
RTS (FR)

In case you missed it

Photo article

Indigenous rights defender Ruth Alipaz is from the Uchupiamona Nation in the Bolivian Amazon. Over the past two decades, her Indigenous group and others in the region have watched with alarm as a booming gold mining industry has increasingly encroached on their lands, threatening their way of life, health, and very existence. (Ruth Alipaz)

Behind Bolivia’s green image: Indigenous groups warn gold mining is endangering their existence. Thirty human rights defenders travelled to Geneva in November to seek support from states ahead of a review of Bolivia’s human rights record in Geneva this month. They say the country’s mining and other extractive activities go against its world-famous laws protecting nature and Indigenous rights and risk driving them to extinction.

Geneva Solutions

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